Hanesbrands (HBI) Stock Falls Ahead of Earnings Release

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Hanesbrands (HBI) stock is decreasing by 1.71% to $29.93 in afternoon trading on Thursday, ahead of the company's 2015 fourth quarter financial report, due out this afternoon after the market close.

Shares of retail and apparel companies are being pressured today after Ralph Lauren Crop. (RL), Kohl's Corp. (KSS) and L Brands (LB) delivered disappointing financial figures that show a recent slowdown in the industry.

Hanesbrands, a Winston-Salem, NC-based basic apparel company, is expected to report a year-over-year increase in earnings per share and revenue this afternoon.

Wall Street is anticipating earnings of 46 cents per share on revenue of $1.53 billion for the latest quarter.

Last year, the company posted earnings of 37 cents per share, after adjustments for the March 2015 four-for-one stock split, on $1.52 billion in revenue for the 2014 fourth quarter.

Although retail and apparel have been under pressure because of unseasonably warm weather, many analyst remain bullish on Hanesbrands because of lower costs as well as better than average sales, TheStreet's Chris Laudani wrote in a Real Money post last month. (Free access during TheStreet's Open House).

Separately, Hanesbrands has a "buy" rating and a letter grade of B at TheStreet Ratings because of the company's impressive record of earnings per share growth, increase in net income, revenue growth, notable return on equity and solid stock price performance.

TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author.